Pool screen cages and screened enclosures are commonly assembled by connecting multiple metal beams together with plates that all must be screwed and riveted together. An example, of the attachment plates and necessary screw/rivet fasteners used to attach support beams together is shown in FIGS. 1-3C.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a basic screened structure enclosure 1 attached to another structure such as a house 5. FIG. 2 is a view of the frame structure of FIG. 1 with upper support beams highlighted. FIG. 3A is a view of the support beam member 10 of FIG. 2 connected to a second support beam 20 using one of a known interior prior art joint attachment plates 30(32, 36). FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of one of the interior prior art joint attachment plates 30 of FIG. 3A. FIG. 3C is another view of the beam members 10, 20 with prior art joint attachment plates 30(32, 36) of FIG. 3A with each of the interior prior art joint attachment plates 32, 36 in a breakaway view, and having multiple fasteners 35, 37 such as screws, and the like, that are necessary to join the plates 32, 36 to the interior halves 12, 22 and 16, 26 of the two support beams 10, 20.
There are many problems with this current type of assembly. The large amount of fasteners such as screws and rivets that must be used with current building techniques is an expensive add-on cost, and requires substantial labor costs during the assembly.
Additional problems occur when dissimilar metals are used during the beam assembly. For example, aluminum beams connected together with nonaluminum fasteners such as nongalvanized steel can have serious drawbacks. Over time, the interaction points between these two dissimilar metals can oxidize and eventually cause the beam connection points to fail seriously undermining the entire structure.
Still another problem with using only fasteners to connect the beams together is that the weight of the beam(s) and structure is centered on the fasteners, thus causing potential weak failure points at the fastener connection points. Merely adding more fasteners can actually reduce the structure""s integrity since each fastener cuts into a portion of the beam itself.
Additionally, most metal beams used for pool screen and screened enclosure applications use individual beams that must be assembled together. Each beam has half sections that are fitted to one another and then screwed or riveted. Because each beam half is identical sidewalls, the beam halves must be physically handled and placed in vices, and the like, to make sure that the beam halves are properly aligned so that the beam side walls do not overlap the other beam sidewalls too much. This additional handling causes additional time and labor costs during assembly of the structure. FIG. 4A is a side cross-sectional view of two beam half sections 22, 26 of the prior art. FIG. 4B is another view of FIG. 4A showing a slide problem example of supporting beam half sections 22, 26 apart and in a fixed relationship to one another. Assembly of beam half section 22, 26 is that the beam half sections 22, 26 be fastened and held together in the manner shown in FIG. 4A. However, a common problem is keeping and supporting the beam half sections in this configuration. For example, if beam half section 22 is positioned on top of beam half section 26, the tendency is that the legs 23 of upper beam half section 22 can fall in the direction of arrow J and no longer be adjacent to the legs 27 of beam half section 26 as shown in FIG. 4B.
The inventor is aware of several United States Patents of interest. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,997,876 to Sheldon; U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,922 to Rudisill; U.S. Pat. No. 2,975,874 to Pagan; U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,399 to Bush et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,382,639 to Smith et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,417,537 to Wilson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,385 to Sherwood; U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,563 to Toti; U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,406 to DiFazio; U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,717 to Damneron, Jr.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,936 to Ellingson. However, none of these references adequately overcomes all of the problems with the prior art cited above.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a system for cutting beams into architectural designs and reconnecting the beams together without using fasteners such as screws and rivets.
The second object of this invention is to provide a system of connecting beams together with a technique that distributes the weight of the beams and structure over the length of the beam and not just over the connection points.
The third object of this invention is to provide a system for connecting beams together that requires less hardware, manufacturing time, assembly time and expense compared to conventional techniques.
The fourth object of this invention is to provide a system for connecting beams together that does not require cutting openings into the beams.
The fifth object of this invention is to align two beam half members together to a set position without having to use additional equipment such as vices, and the like.
The sixth object of this invention is to allow the cutting of beam pairs without clamping them in position, by using nesting receptacles for positioning beam halves together.
The seventh object of this invention is to provide internal strengthening members that extend the loads of connection joints along beam spans while using less material.
A preferred embodiment of the lap beam connectors includes a first hollow beam having at least one pair of U-shaped internal receptacles, and a second hollow beam having at least one pair of U-shaped internal receptacle, and internal connection plate that are slidably inserted into the receptacles of both hollow beams for allowing the beams to be joined together without using external connection plates and external fasteners. The receptacles can include triangular shaped prongs for forming a tight fit between the connection plates and the inner walls of the beams. Crimping tools can be used to form indentations in both the plates and the inner sidewalls of the beams in order to help lock the beams and plates together.
An internal support arrangement is formed within each beam so that two beam half sections can be attached together to form a single hollow beam. Each half beam section can include a first upper leg, a first lower leg, and a main portion connecting the first upper leg to the first lower leg. Ledges/receptacles can be provided within the legs of the half beams for allowing the legs of the other half beam to become nested therein in a fixed position. Inner and outer sides of the legs can have grooved surfaces that allow the beam half legs to tightly fit together. Additionally, fasteners such as screws can be provided that pass through the sides of the legs of both beam half sections in order to further lock the beam halves together. Still furthermore, an internal strap can be used that has a first end attached to the fastener, and a second end attached to a ledge/receptacle for further attaching the half beam sections in a fixed arrangement.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.